KTVQ
CBS television affiliate in Billings, Montana, United States
KTVQ (channel 2) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network (MTN), a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KTVQ's studios are located on Third Avenue North in Billings, and its transmitter is located on Sacrifice Cliff southeast of downtown.
Channel 2 began broadcasting as KOOK-TV on November 9, 1953. It was the first television station in Billings and the third in the state of Montana, built by radio station KOOK. It has been a CBS affiliate since its inception. The Montana Network, the original owner, sold the KOOK stations to Joe Sample in 1956, and they moved into the present KTVQ studios in 1959. Sample's acquisitions of KXLF-TV in Butte in 1961 and KRTV in Great Falls in 1969 formed the basis of the Montana Television Network; KOOK radio was sold off in 1973, and channel 2 changed its call sign to KTVQ.
While the network was nominally headquartered in Billings, the network's split regional news format used Great Falls as a hub. As a result of the newscast style implemented by Sample, channel 2 sank in the local news ratings against the all-local newscasts on competitor KULR-TV. Coinciding with Sample's sale of the MTN stations to SJL, Inc., in 1984, the network newscasts shifted to Billings and were eventually phased out altogether. In 1987, KTVQ overtook KULR-TV in local news ratings and became the dominant station in the market.
History
The Montana Network, owner of radio station KOOK (970 AM), applied on December 13, 1952, for a construction permit to build a new TV station on channel 2 in Billings, which was granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on February 4, 1953. The turnaround time was short considering that Robert S. Howard, who owned Scripps-associated radio and newspaper holdings in Utah and Idaho, had also applied for channel 2, but his firm dropped its bid and cleared the way for The Montana Network.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “KTVQ” as cBS television affiliate in Billings, Montana, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as cBS television affiliate in Billings, Montana, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6339277. Authority coordinates are 45.767, -108.458. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 1956, 1959 and 1961.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “KTVQ”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow KTVQ primary sources, KTVQ archive and KTVQ research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “KTVQ”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “KTVQ” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.